Beyond the Gate of Heavenly Peace
April 11, 2011 at 7:30pm
The story of four young Chinese who leave Beijing in search of a better life in Australia. Accompanied by a confucian spirit guide, each brings with them their own cover story while harbouring a secret as to where they were on the day of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
There will be a talkback with the authors, who are flying in for this event, following the reading
Featuring Tina Chilip, Johnson Chong, Angela Lin, Karen Oughtred, Henry Yuk & Lei Zhou
Jianguo Wu has been awarded Australia Council, Arts Victoria and Australia-China Council support to work as a writer. His novel Meandering Stream and the play Beyond the Gate of Heavenly Peace have made him the first mainland Chinese migrant author in Australia to have a novel and a play published in English.
John Ashton is an Australian writer whose work has been published in Penguin and performed at LaMama in Melbourne. He has worked with Jianguo Wu on two prize winning short stories, several plays, of which Kites of Broken Strings was a recipient of the RE Ross, Victorain Premiers Award, 2005. His own work explores the themes of “transitional disruptions” and how we respond as community and individuals. He is currently working on a multimedia performance piece for the town of Gundagai set around the floods of 1852.
Written by Jianguo Wu & John Ashton
Directed by George Ferencz